12FICHE MEDICAL RESPONSE STRATEGY The 7 essential principles 01 The exposure of people to a radiological or nuclear (RN) agent can result from an accident, a terrorist attack or an act of war. The medical response aims to evaluate the severity of the condition of the victims, to define response priorities and to consider the use of antidotes after evacuation of the victims by the emergency response teams. The emergency decontamination and full decontamination measures limit the radiological risk and the transfer of contamination into the healthcare facilities outside the contaminated area. Medical-surgical urgencies take priority over the treatment of contamination and irradiation. A human being can be irradiated or contaminated by a radioactive source. Irradiation results from exposure to a source external to the organism, while contamination can be either external (skin, hair, beard, clothing) or internal. Contamination causes irradiation throughout the time the radionuclide is present. Whatever the situation, medical-surgical urgencies take priority over the treatment of contamination and irradiation. The urgent medical actions must therefore be taken using appropriate techniques before carrying out full decontamination. SEE SHEET 3 A person is contaminated if radioactive particles are deposited on their skin, skin appendages (such as hair, beard, nails) or clothing (external contamination) or if these particles enter the organism by ingestion, inhalation or further to skin puncture, or possibly penetrating injuries (internal contamination). The absence of immediate effects complicates the evaluation and the treatment of potentially exposed persons. SEE SHEET 3 Medical-surgical urgencies take priority over the treatment of contamination and irradiation Radioactive contamination does not usually have immediate effects RADIOLOGICAL OR NUCLEAR EVENTS They can be caused by: • accidents: nuclear industry, radiotherapy devices, transport of radioactive substances, laboratory accident, etc. • terrorist attacks: attack by an explosive agent with dispersion of radioactive substances (“dirty bomb”), dispersion of radionuclides into the environment, exposure to a high-activity sealed source, etc. • acts of war: utilisation of tactical nuclear weapons, etc. These RN events involve a risk of radioactive contamination and irradiation of a large number of victims. i SHEET MEDICAL RESPONSE IN NUCLEAR OR RADIOLOGICAL EMERGENCY 11
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NjQ0NzU=